Skip to main content

Gujarat govt "supplied" expired, about-to-expire polio vaccines: Rajkot health official wrote warning letters

By Our Representative
In a shocking disclosure, many of the vaccines injected to children in Gujarat have either been found to be expired, or are in the last stage of expiry, with district health officials, conducting vaccine programme and distributing vaccines to local health centres, writing two letters to the Gujarat government about this.
The district health establishment of Rajkot, from where Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani hails, in one of the written complaints to the state health department, said, “The IPV (or Injectable Polio Vaccine, with the brand name Imovax Palio, manufactured by Sanofi Pasteur, a French drug company) vaccine that we have got on September 16, 2017 is of extremely poor status.”
The letter underlines, “It is on the last VVM stage. There is full possibility that, if we send the vaccines to other district and taluka level, by the time it reaches the actual beneficiaries, it will expire. Because of the expiry and last stage of vaccine, this is dangerous”.
One of the two Rajkot letters
VVM stands for Vaccine Vial Monitor, which has a colour coding, which changes when it is to expire or is towards the expiry stage. The IPV vaccine has to be kept in special conditions between 2 and 8 degrees C temperature. If the vaccine is exposed to higher temperatures, it expires and falls under non-usable category.
The local health officials of Rajkot further revealed that that 18,000 vaccines of batch number M 1358 1, with the written expiry date of May 2018, were received by them when these were in the last expiry stage because temperatures were not being maintained properly when they were dispatched. 
Health officials of Kutch and Morbi have also made similar complaints.
Revealing this, Congress’ national spokesperson Shaktisinh Gohil told newspersons in Ahmedabad, “It is criminal on part of Gujarat government to administer last stage or expired polio vaccine to people of Gujarat.”
He alleged, “In a scary and disgusting decision, even after the warning, the state government said these vaccines could be administered. The BJP government has played dirty with the parents and children who have used this vaccine.”
Gohil wondered why the polio vaccines were not destroyed even after the district health officials clearly said they were in last stage, and possibly they had expired, when they actually reach the beneficiary despite clear communication in writing.
Shaktisinh Gohil
“What was the condition of the polio vaccines when they came to Gujarat? What was their VVM status?”, he asked, even as demanding that the French drug company Sanofi Pasteur should come up with a clarification about the status of vaccines it sent to Gujarat.
He further insisted that the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Unicef “should institute an inquiry, taking serious cognizance all the written communications that the district health officials have sent to senior officers.”
The revelation is significant, as India was declared polio free in May 2014, 19 years after it embarked on the programme to eradicate the disease. Two India’s neighbours, Pakistan and Afghanisation, however, remain polio endemic.

Comments

TRENDING

'Draconian' Kerala health law follows WHO diktat: Govt readies to take harsh measures

By Dr Maya Valecha*  The Governor of Kerala has signed the Kerala Public Health Bill, which essentially reverses the people’s campaign in healthcare services in Kerala for decentralisation. The campaign had led to relinquishing of state powers in 1996, resulting in improvement of health parameters in Kerala. Instead, now, enforcement of law through the exercise of power, fines, etc., and the implementation of protocol during the pandemic, are considered of prime importance.

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah*   The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Bihar rural women entrepreneurs witness 50% surge in awareness about renewal energy

By Mignonne Dsouza*  An endline survey conducted under the Bolega Bihar initiative revealed a significant increase in awareness of renewable energy among women, rising from 25% to 76% in Nalanda and Gaya. Renu Kumari, a 34-year-old entrepreneur from Nalanda, Bihar, operates a village eatery that serves as the primary source of income for her family, including her husband and five children. However, a significant portion of her profits was being directed toward covering monthly electricity expenses that usually reach Rs 2,000. 

Work with Rajasthan's camel herders: German scientist wins World Cookbook Award 2023

By Rosamma Thomas*  Gourmand World Cookbook Awards are the only awards for international food culture. This year, German scientist  Ilse Kohler Rollefson , founder of Camel Charisma, the first of India’s camel dairies, in Pali district of Rajasthan, won the award for her work with camel herders in Rajasthan, and for preparing for the UN International Year of Camelids, 2024. 

Reject WHO's 'draconian' amendments on pandemic: Citizens to Union Health Minister

By Our Representative  Several concerned Indian citizens have written to the Union Health Minister to reject amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR) of the World Health Organization (WHO) adopted during the 75th World Health Assembly (WHA75) in May 2022, apprehending this will make the signatories surrender their autonomy to the “unelected, unaccountable and the whimsical WHO in case of any future ‘pandemics’.”

Golwalkar's views on tricolour, martyrs, minorities, caste as per RSS archives

By Shamsul Islam*  First time in the history of independent India, the in-charge minister of the Cultural Ministry in the current Modi government, Prahlad Singh Patel, has glorified MS Golwalkar, second supremo of the RSS and the most prominent ideologue of the RSS till date, on his birth anniversary, February 19. In a tweet he wrote : “Remembering a great thinker, scholar, and remarkable leader #MSGolwalkar on his birth anniversary. His thoughts will remain a source of inspiration & continue to guide generations.”

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Why is electricity tariff going up in India? Who is the beneficiary? A random reflection

By Thomas Franco*  Union Ministry of Power has used its power under Section 11 of the Electricity Act, 2003 to force States to import coal which has led to an increase in the cost of electricity production and every consumer is paying a higher tariff. In India, almost everybody from farmers to MSMEs are consumers of electricity.

Deplorable, influential sections 'still believe' burning coal is essential indefinitely

By Shankar Sharma*  Some of the recent developments in the power sector, as some  recent news items show, should be of massive relevance/ interest to our policy makers in India. Assuming that our authorities are officially mandated/ committed to maintain a holistic approach to the overall welfare of all sections of our society, including the flora, fauna and general environment, these developments/ experiences from different parts of the globe should be clear pointers to the sustainable energy pathways for our people.

Environmental cost of Green Revolution: India world’s second-highest fertilizer importer

By Glenn Davis Stone*  Feeding a growing world population has been a serious concern for decades, but today there are new causes for alarm. Floods, heat waves and other weather extremes are making agriculture increasingly precarious, especially in the Global South .